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A WALL CLAD IN COPPER SHEET WITH HORIZONTAL STANDING SEAMS

1 December, 2005 | By Susan Dawson

WORKING DETAILS - UNICORN THEATRE

The main auditorium of the theatre is designed as a steel structure, supporting the seating tiers, within a cast in situ concrete box. On the west elevation the use of concrete allows the auditorium to cantilever over the groundfloor entrance foyer below it.

External walls are clad with horizontal strips of copper sheet, pre-oxidised to a deep chestnut colour. The 0.7mm sheet is laid in random widths based on standard coil widths of 230, 430 and 600mm, with standing seams at the horizontal joints. The sheets are fixed to a backing of 18mm WBP ply supported on a framework of back-to-back aluminium angles; this is fixed to the concrete wall and lined with 50mm insulation batts.

On the west elevation an education studio projects beyond the copper walls as a transparent glass box. The roof and three walls are of frameless double-glazed units. An inset gutter is set at the junction of the glazed roof and the copperclad wall. The glazing is fixed to an internal aluminium structure supported by a proprietary steel channel that also forms the gutter profile. A plasterboard bulkhead conceals the gutter and glazing support system, and houses lighting.

The soffit of the studio is finished in insulated acrylic render. The soffit of the main entrance foyer is clad with standing-seam copper sheet.

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